Lehigh Valley Showcase LIVE Blog

January 25th — We’re here at Parkland High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania for our fourth and final High School Showcase, the Hoop Group Lehigh Valley Showcase. Today’s event will bring together some of the best high school basketball in the state of Pennsylvania. We’ll see top teams in the state, Roman Catholic and Neuman Goretti, as well as an abundance of individual talent on every single team here. The wait is over, let’s play some basketball. Roman Catholic and Scranton Prep will tip off the day.

Preview: Roman Catholic vs. Scranton Prep
Roman Catholic comes in as one of the best teams in Pennsylvania. They currently have two committed seniors on their roster, Trevaughn Wilkerson (Hartford) and Gemil Holbrook (Rider). They also have Tony Carr, who is the #74 ranked junior in the country, according to Rivals.com. In order for Scranton Prep to pull an upset, the Cavaliers will need big games from guards Bobby Casey and Tim Rose.

12:09 pm
Roman holds an early lead, but Tim Rose doing his part to keep Scranton in it. He has 5 points and an assist already. Helping on 7 of Scranton’s 9 points. Roman leads 14-9 midway through the first.

12:16 pm
Said it before the game, Bobby Casey is going to need a big game if Scranton Prep is going to upset Roman

Bobby Casey sinks a three and Scranton Prep has a 17-16 lead with 1:30 to go in the 1st! Great back and forth action so far #HGShowcase

12:20 pmDakquan Davis drills a three at the horn and Roman has a 22-21 lead after 8 minutes of play. Scranton went toe to toe with Roman in the first 8. Bobby Casey and Tim Rose led the way. Roman saw a contributions from D’Andre Vilmar and Nazeer Bostick.

12:28 pmTim Rose gets another basket thanks to a basket interference call. Time out on the floor and Scranton Prep leads Roman Catholic 39-31. It’s been a great offensive display for Prep so far; they have three players who can shoot the three out on the floor at all times.

12:40 pm
Scranton sees a 6 point halftime lead going into the half, 43-37. Bobby Casey has 15 points to lead all scorers. Tim Rose also has double digits. For Roman, Nazeer Bostick leads with 9. If Roman is going to win this game they are going to need to contain Prep from behind the arc. The thee point shot has been the x-factor so far.

1:06 pm
It’s been a quiet game for Gemil Holbrook. Haven’t heard much from the Rider commit, but he just hit a three and cut the deficit in half. 60-57 is the score with 6 left to play and Scranton Prep still on top.

1:21 pm
Scranton Prep got cold in the 4th quarter, only scoring 8 points. Roman was able to mount a comeback and top the Cavaliers by a score of 76-66. Gemil Holbrook and Manny Taylor were clutch in the 4th, scoring 6 and 8 respectively. Nazeer Bostick finished with a team high 19 for Roman. Tim Rose had a game high of 20 and was Scranton’s team MVP.

1:32 pm
Preview: Neuman Goretti vs. Emmaus
Neuman Goretti comes in as the favorite in this match up. They are led by St. Joe’s bound Lamarr Kimble and sophomore sensation Quade Green. Zane Martin and Dhamir Cosby Roundtree will also be contributors.For Emmaus, they should see contributions from David and Matt Kachelries, as well as Joey Polczynski.

1:41 pm
This is the kind of start Emmaus needs if they are going to upset the Saints of Neuman Goretti.

Neuman Goretti jumps out to a 10-6 lead over Emmaus early on. Both sides missing some easy ones early #HGShowcase

2:04 pm
Neuman’s lead has grown to 20 in the 2nd quarter. They have done a tremendous job of moving on offense and spacing the floor, which has allowed for drives and lay ups or dump off passes for easy points in the paint.

2:21 pm
Emmaus could not have asked for a better start to the half. 8-0 cut the deficit to 13, but a Zane Martin three put it back to 16. Time out on the floor with 5:08 left in the third.

Good start to the 2nd half for Emmaus. 8-0 has the deficit down to 13 #HGShowcase

3:01 pm
Neuman cruises to a 16 point win. Emmaus had their runs in the second half, but Neuman had an answer for every run. Zane Martin was awarded the MVP for Neuman with a strong second half showing. Susquehanna and Parkland are up next.

Preview: Susquhanna vs. Parkland
The host team Parkland takes on Susquehanna township in our third game. The Trojans are off to a great start and are led by two juniors and a sophomore. Devante Cross and Kyle Stout are some of the best 2016s in the area and sophomore Sam Iorio is a stud. Susquehanna has an impressive junior themselves in Nehemiah Mack and senior Dejour Williams is big for them too. This should be a tight game through out.

3:12 pmSam Iorio hits the smooth jump hook in the paint. The sophomore has a very high ceiling and Parkland has an early 6-5 lead over Susquehanna.

3:29 pm

Jaquan Blair with the steal and the lay up. Susquehanna leads Parkland 12-11 after one quarter #HGShowcase

3:44 pm
At the half, it’s 29-28, Susquehanna on top of Parkland. Sam Iorio had a strong first half for Parkland. Susquehanna was balanced, seeing quality production from Quintin Ward and Jaquan Blair.

3:57 pmKenny Yeboah is owning the offesnsive glass for Parkland. He’s providing countless second chance opportunities and Parkland is taking advantage. For Susquehanna, they are continuing to see balanced scoring. Joe Marshall hit a jumper and Jaquan Blair scored on a lay up.

4:09 pm
One of the players to watch for coming into the game….

Back to back threes by Nehemiah Mack has Susquehanna up 6 with 6 left to play. Time out on the floor #HGShowcase

4:19 pm
Parkland gets a stop with 40 seconds left and has a chance to tie with a three. They have the ball with 33 seconds left and called time out. Iorio has been the go to guy from three, but we’ll see what Coach Stephens draws up.

4:24 pm
Roller coaster of events just now.

Justin Jones got a great look from the corner, but was off the mark. Susquehanna has the ball and looking to hang on for the win #HGShowcase

A video posted by Hoop Group (@hoopgroup) on Jan 25, 2015 at 1:26pm PST

4:35 pm
Another three points from Kyle Stout. These three come from the free throw stripe. Parkland leads Susquehanna 63-60 with 53 seconds left

4:46 pm
Nehemiah Mack got to the rim for two and Susquehanna sent Sam Iorio to the line for a one and one. The sophomore hit one of two, but Susquehanna could not get a good look at a tying shot. Parkland wins by two. Iorio was the game MVP with an outstanding offensive display. Nehemiah Mack was the MVP for Susquehanna. Westtown and Chester up next in our final match up.

Preview: Westtown vs Chester
This will be the second time we’ve seen Chester this year. At the Reading Tip Off they knocked off Berks Catholic in a thriller. They have size up front with Maurice Henry (6’8)Jordan Camper (6’7) and Marquis Collins (6’7). Westtown is led by Jair Bolden, who is rated the 156th ranked junior, according to Hoop Scoop. Center Mohamed Bamba is 6’10 and can jump out of the gym. He has received a number of offers already, Texas being the most recent.

5:12 pm
Westtown jumps out to an early lead. Jair Bolden connects from the outside and Mohamed Bamba had a posterizing dunk. It’s been all Westtown so far.

A video posted by Hoop Group (@hoopgroup) on Jan 25, 2015 at 1:26pm PST

5:42 pm
At the half, it’s been all Westtown and they take a 25 point lead into the break.

6:13 pm
Westtown looks dominant in the last game of the day. They got contributions from everyone today. Mohamed Bamba, Jair Bolden, Najja Hunter combined for 51 in the win. Chester did see a positive game from Maurice Henry. The 6’8 big man was strong inside. With that horn, the Hoop Group Lehigh Valley Showcase is completed!